War of the Oranges
by FishyFloat
Summary: Wildwing never wanted to see another orange in his life. Unfortunately, the fact that California was a top producer of oranges for the US didn't make this wish likely to come true. And the orange madness was apt to continue, considering it was Nosedive who was behind the random fruit assaults. It had all started last week at breakfast... Updated 7/13- Chapter 2, Part 4 Uploaded!
1. Stanley Cup Playoffs

**Authors Note:** Hey guys! I'm new to writing Mighty Ducks fanfic, but not new to writing. This story has been rattling around in my head for the past few weeks and it's time to get it out there. Currently, it sits at 34 pages in Microsoft Word. I have lots of what I want to happen later written; I just need to get the characters and events into place. For now, you get the main intro. I do plan on adding to it shortly.

Goals for this story:

1) Stay in character  
2) No Slash  
3) Keep it light  
4) Provide a good adventure  
5) Dragaunus is the proper spelling based off MIB toy and comics

Enjoy!

**Edit:** Thanks for the reviews! Feedback is what keeps me going. But, never fear, I won't hold this story back until I get x-number of reviews. It's going to be written because it won't leave me alone any other way!

The bit that I have added to the end of this chapter is where I really wanted to end it. I plan for this story to read more like an episode of the show and hope to have a total of three chapters. There is much, much more coming. Like I said, the Word document is nearly 40 pages long. I just have to maneuver characters into place to get to what I have already written.

Just wanted to point out: in hockey the home jerseys are the dark ones and the away are the light. However, since the cartoon clearly shows the light jerseys as home, I'm gonna stick with cartoon logic here. Whenever I mention a place by name, it exists in real life. Hockey rules I mention are also official rules from 1996, before the rule changes after the 2004 lockout. Also, keeps screwing up my formatting and getting rid of my nice tilde and asterisk visual cues. I've had to resort to those ugly 0's. If you've got a better suggestion for scene changes, I'd love to hear it!

* * *

Wildwing never wanted to see another orange in his life. Unfortunately, the fact that California was a top producer of oranges for the US didn't make this wish likely to come true. And the orange madness was apt to continue, considering it was Nosedive who was behind the random fruit assaults.

It had all started last week at breakfast...

00000

Mallory grumped a thoroughly angry sounding "Hmmph!" in response to Duke's morning greeting.

"Hey, don't take it out on me when you stay up too late," the former thief grinned. "I know you like those ridiculous crime shows and all, but we have DVR for a reason."

"You were sitting there, watching the exact same shows, L'Orange."

"Yeah, but I don't wake up ready to kill someone if I'm up past midnight."

"Unlike you, some of us actually need sleep." Mallory poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down, waiting for her toast to cook.

"Hey, uh, Wildwing, have you seen Nosedive?" Tanya looked around for the missing youth. In reality, she knew exactly where he was- still in bed. She was just trying to distract Duke and Mallory before they started reenacting the murder scene from last nights episode of Crime Show Instigators.

"I told him to get up a half hour ago." Wildwing stood, ready to head out the door when the disheveled youth entered. "Morning, baby bro. I was going to see if you were up yet."

"I'll rise, but I refuse to shine," he joked. "What's for breakfast today?" Nosedive may have been dressed, but his hair was a mess and he stumbled around, only half awake.

Mallory glared at him. "Nothing. It was your turn to cook."

"Anybody know why we keep giving him morning duties?" Duke chuckled as he drank his coffee.

"Because I make the best pancakes!"

"Only if you're up in time to make them," Wildwing sighed. "Forget it, just toss me an orange."

Nosedive picked the biggest one from the fruit bowl and tossed it in the air, catching it a few times before lobbing it at his brothers head.

Just then, Phil burst into the room, "Boobies! Have I got a deal for you!"

Distracted by Phil's entrance, and the impending plea for some stupid stunt, Wildwing failed to see the orange coming straight for him. The offending piece of fruit hit him in the side of the head.

"Ow! Nosedive! I said toss me an orange, not try to kill me." The white drake rubbed the sore spot on his temple and leaned over to pick up the orange.

"Oh, man, I can't believe you missed that!" Nosedive ducked under the counter, expecting retribution. When he heard nothing, he peeked over the ledge, only to be nailed by the same orange.

"I sense the beginning of a long battle," Grin said before taking a mouthful of cold cereal.

"You said you wanted this darn thing!" He hurled it back at Wildwing, who caught it this time. Not to be outdone, Nosedive started grabbing oranges from the bowl and throwing them at his brother as hard and fast as possible.

Years of goaltending enabled Wildwing to catch all of the oranges with ease; but, Nosedives agility helped him evade the onslaught of returned fruit projectiles. Soon, bruised fruit was covering the kitchen counters and floor.

The toast Mallory had put in the toaster popped up, momentarily distracting Nosedive enough for Wildwing to tackle him.

"You two are incorrigible," she muttered as she stepped over the wrestling brothers to fetch her breakfast. "If you guys want to fight instead of eat before practice, I'm not going to listen to you complain about being so hungry you could eat the ice." She playfully kicked Nosedive's leg as she returned to the table.

"So, I've got this great promotion at-" Phil started, thinking the orange war was over. It wasn't long before five ducks were hurling fruit at him, causing the chubby manager to make a hasty exit.

00000

Phil sat in the stands of the Pond, watching his Western Division Champions practice. They only had two days from winning the division championship before the start of the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. With such a short time between games, Wildwing made sure they all practiced to be in top form for the final battle for the Stanley Cup.

The manager was busy flipping through a tour book of Vancouver, looking for good spots for public appearances with the ducks. He wanted to get those Canadian fans geared up for the Mighty Ducks vs the Orcas, and he wanted to be sure to do it in a way that would make those Canadians cheer for the ducks.

It was amazing how much a persons life could change in a year. Just last August, the ducks had walked into his life and turned his world upside down, figuratively and literally. He prided himself on his cunning and ability to adapt to any situation and turn it into a moneymaker. After all, hadn't most of the people who initially met the ducks run in terror? Not Phil Palmfeather! He had nerves of steel and an iron will to make profits. He would capitalize on anything.

Ooh! The Empress Hotel Miniature World! That looked like a good place for an appearance. After all, who didn't like minute do-dads? Never mind that the place hadn't been updated in thirty years and was geared towards five year olds. He dog eared the page and continued to search for opportunities.

* * *

Deep below the Pacific Ocean lay the wreckage of the Raptor. Fish floated up to the red mass that had recently appeared in their world, inspecting it for edible bits. A manta ray gracefully glided past, blissfully ignorant of the maelstrom inside the drowned spaceship.

"Curse those ducks!" Dragaunus took aim and destroyed another of his hunter drones. "Blast them all!" He stormed around his command room, kicking bits of smouldering robots that lay in his path. "I'll kill them one by one and mount their heads on pikes above that revolting hockey rink."

Siege, ever short on brains, was the one to interrupt his overlords tirade. "Eehh... Boss, how you gonna do that when we're at the bottom of the ocean?"

Dragaunus glared at Siege, smoke rising from his nostrils. He swatted the heavy saurian away, throwing him against the wall.

Wraith appeared in a cloud of smoke and strode to the control panel. Pressing a gigantic red button, he turned on the viewing screen to a newscast.

"I may have found a solution to our watery problem," the mystic saurian intoned.

A short, female reporter with wavy brown hair was standing in front of a large machine. Her yellow blouse ruffled slightly in the wind. "This is Crystal Childs, with Channel 5 news. I'm here at TechnoDream Industries with Professor Marillier, who has just announced the release of his new Regenerative Energy Cells. Tell me, Professor, how do these cells work?"

The portly, bald scientist looked proudly into the camera. "These cells rely on algae to produce oxygen, which is converted into energy by holmium. A single unit is capable of powering a factory for a whole week! This will revolutionize the world of clean energy and move us away from fossil fuels."

"Yes..." Dragaunus chuckled to himself. "Siege! Chameleon! Teleport to the surface immediately and get me those energy cells!"

Chameleon morphed into a World War II era navy sailor, complete with red bandanna and white bell bottom pants.. "Aye, Aye, Captain!" Popping back to his regular form, he headed out the door.

"What about the ducks?" Siege asked. "As soon as we teleport there, they'll come running after us."

A guttural snarl emanated from the dragons throat. "Then we'll have to do it when they are at one of their accursed hockey games. They should be in Canada for a game tomorrow. When they're on the other side of the continent, we'll strike." A deep laugh escaped the overlords throat at the prospect of repowering the raptor without avian interference.

* * *

"So, you, like totally defeated Dragaunus for good?" Mookie asked.

"Yup!" Nosedive grinned as he leaned on the counter. "Old lizard lips won't be bothering Earth or Puckworld, ever again."

"Yeah, man. But, what about that gateway generator?" Thrash asked as he removed his yellow and purple shutter shades.

"It was a sacrifice we had to make."

"Bummer, dude."

"Well, it's not so bad. At least we're still in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. I don't think we'd have left before finishing out the season anyway. You know Wing; we signed a contract to play for this season and he'd never leave before completing it."

Mookie reached under the counter and pulled out a comic she had special ordered for Nosedive. "I'm just, like, glad you're not going to disappear for ever!"

The young duck set down the comic he'd been flipping through and picked up his special order. He pulled out his wallet to pay. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Isn't Tanya a genius? Maybe she can build something."

"Thrash, my main man, you have an excellent point."

0000

The conversation with Thrash and Mookie kept replaying in Nosedives head. He had known that any chance of returning home to Puckworld had been destroyed along with the gateway generator. Still, he'd managed to push the thought from his mind and focus on hockey until today.

Earth wasn't so bad, but he missed his home. They'd been gone a year. Had the planet started to recover from the invasion? Were the cities being rebuilt? Had all of his friends from school survived?

Grinning to himself, Nosedive turned his thoughts to something more pleasant. If anything could pull him out of a funk, it was a good prank. Well, that and a challenging game of hockey; but, pranks were always fun to come up with.

0000

The clerks at the local Healthy Nut grocery had become accustomed to seeing giant ducks shopping there. After all, these were professional athletes who tried to eat the healthiest foods possible. Nosedive, however, appeared to be the exception. He always bought chips, candy, and soda whenever he came in.

"Hey, Kat!" Despite his rare appearances in the store, he still knew all of the employees on a first name basis.

"Hello yourself," the blond cashier returned. "We just got some of that Mexican Coke in this morning. Want me to set a case aside for you?"

"Nah, I'm not getting any pop today. I have other plans." He grinned and walked over to produce. After a few moments of price checking, he grabbed two giant bags of oranges. He didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that was most likely going to be destroyed. These oranges might end up being eaten, but it wasn't very likely.

"On second thought..." The duck grabbed a third bag before heading towards the bulk snack aisle. He shoved some of the plastic bulk bags in his pockets. Shifting the three bags of oranges to one hand, he picked up the small barrel of chocolate covered banana chips and headed to the registers. He knew they'd never sell the barrel itself, but he liked to bring random things up to the line to amuse the cashiers. He would, however, buy all of what was in the barrel; that was why he'd taken the plastic bags. Grin loved chocolate banana chips, so he'd have someone to share them with.

* * *

The entire Mighty Ducks hockey team, dressed in their purple and black away jerseys, walked through the streets of Vancouver. They had flown in earlier that morning for tonight's game. Despite Phil's best attempts, they had managed to get out of a public appearance. They were content to just explore the city a little bit and see another part of their adopted world.

Despite being so much farther north than Anaheim, there was no snow on the ground. The mid 50's temperatures were a welcome relief after the heat of California.

"I'm thinking pasta for lunch," Mallory suggested.

"Come on, Mal. Pizza all the way!"

"There's a buffet over there," Grin motioned across the street.

"Eh, I'd like to try something a little more local," Duke said.

Wildwing paused and looked around. "How about none of us pick for a change?"

Mallory laughed. "It's kind of hard to find something to eat without anybody picking!"

Wildwing grinned. Everyone could see his smile; he actually wasn't wearing the mask for a change. "I say we try the third restaurant we come to on this street."

"Not a very scientific approach," Tanya commented. "But I like it. I'm up for a surprise."

"Don't matter to me," Duke shrugged.

"Surprise is good," Grin added.

The third restaurant in their path ended up being something called the Raincity Grill. A large black awning overhung glass windows. The interior was dark and cozy, with leather upholstered booths. White tablecloths provided a bright contrast to the hardwood floors. Despite the lunch rush, the ducks were seated almost right away.

0000

"Ya know, I really miss the food on Puckworld." Duke studied the salad on his fork before taking a bite. "There's just no variety here."

"It's not all bad," Nosedive said around a mouth full of hamburger.

"Are you sure you want to eat that before a game?" Tanya asked.

Mallory gave Nosedive a disgusted glare before turning back to her scallops.

"Why not? It's good!"

Wildwing shook his head. "I thought you'd have learned your lesson the last time you tried beef."

"We should respect our bodies needs," Grin told Nosedive. "Eating that will only bring bad karma and indigestion."

Nosedive rolled his eyes and set the burger down..

"Duke's right," the blond youth said as he picked off the lettuce, pickle, and tomato from his burger. "Earth food's the pits." He ate the toppings in one big bite. "Hey, Tanya, think you could build a gateway generator?"

She snorted. "What do you think I've been working on in my lab for the past month?"

"Oh, I dunno. A mintier, fresher toothpaste?"

"It'd be easier if I had the plans for one, or just something to look at! I'm not even sure I can get all the components I'd need, what with how backwards the technology is here."

"What if you had a broken one to fix?" Wildwing suggested.

"That would speed things up considerably," she nodded as she thought. "But, there's still the problem of how to power it."

"Dragaunus ship!" Mallory exclaimed. "If we could recover it, we could take his gateway generator and repair it."

"Oh, man! That's some plan, Wildwing." Duke's eye lit up with hope. "We could actually go home."

"So, let's start searching!" Nosedive said a little too loudly, earning the team even more curious glances from the other restaurant patrons.

"We'll get started tomorrow," Wildwing avowed. "But, first, we have a game to win."

* * *

The Vancouver Orcas, dressed in their blue and white jerseys, were doing their best to keep up with the ducks, despite their home ice advantage. Nosedive took a shot and sent the puck flying towards the net. The buzzer sounded just before it crossed the line, denying the ducks one more point.

At the end of second period, the score stood Vancouver 2, Ducks 4.

A beeping noise from all of the ducks communicators interrupted their trek to the locker room for their seventeen minute break.

"I thought you turned off the alerts while we were at away games, Tanya," Mallory flipped open her com and looked at it, confused.

"I did! We shouldn't be getting any alarms unless it's teleportation energy."

"Which is what it looks like," Wildwing growled, thoroughly annoyed. "I thought we'd put an end to those saurian sleeze-buckets."

"If their auxiliary power is still working, they just might be able to teleport," Tanya mused as she tapped the bottom of her beak while thinking. "It's unlikely they found a power source on the sea floor, so they must be after something to refuel the Raptor."

"It's not like we have time to go after them right now anyway," Duke looked at the clock on the wall, clearly frustrated. "We only have ten minutes before the next period and it took us over an hour to get here."

"I don't like the timing of this," Wildwing mused. "We'll check it out as soon as we get back to Anaheim."

0000

Klegghorn led the ducks past the yellow police tape. The soft glow of the Anaheim city lights lit up the dark sky. A large sign proclaimed the building wreckage in front of them to be TechnoDream Industries. Lights had been set up around the gaping hole in the side of the building, illuminating the ruble and wreckage of equipment inside.

"It looks like you didn't do such a great job taking those lizards down," the officer grumbled. "They're still blowing up my town!"

"Are you sure it was them, Kappy?" Nosedive asked. "I mean, you saw their ship sinking like a rock!"

"Who else would blast a hole the size of Chicago in the side of a lab?"

"It was them all right." Wildwing was using the mask to survey the area. It clearly showed residual teleportation energy. "Any idea what they took?"

Klegghorn waved a scientist over. "This is Dr. Marillier. He can tell you exactly what's missing."

"Well?" Wildwing growled.

The balding, overweight scientist from the previous newscast gulped at Wildwings imposing figure. He picked at his frayed lab coat and paused before starting.

"Sev...Sev...Several things are missing." Suddenly, he looked quite annoyed. "My new Regenerative Energy Cells, among them!"

"Duh, yeah. That sounds like Dragaunus all right," Tanya muttered. "What else is missing?"

"Oh, just some prototype all terrain destroyer robots for the military. Those Regenerative Energy Cells were my babies! The holmium in the is very difficult to come by. They were going to make me rich!"

Nosedive snorted. "You related to Phil Palmfeather by any chance?"

"Don't worry," Duke said smoothly, "We'll get them back for you."

Just then, the dark sky lit up with the roar of powerful engines as a red space ship soared across the sky. Lasers flew from the guns mounted on the side, aimed right at the ducks! Everyone scattered, dodging the attacks.


	2. The Raptor Rises

**Authors Note: 05/29/2013 **Here's the first part of Chapter 2! As it stands now, I have 42 pages of this story written. The first fourteen pages, including this chapter, are what's up. Dang it, I've got to get this half connected to the second half somehow and it keeps slipping away from me. I suggest you go back and check the end of Chapter 1. I did add to it on the 20th, so you might have missed some if you haven't checked for updates. Updates to this section will be placed in additional chapters, which will later be melded into the three larger chapters I intend for this story.

If anybody wants to Beta for me, I'd really appreciate it. Ideas for where you think this story is heading are also welcome. You never know, your suggestion just might spark an idea! Constructive criticism is much appreciated. If you care to point out any grammar/spelling errors, I'll fix them right away :) Heck, if you want to flame me, bring it on! I've got marshmallows galore ;)

Now, time to pull out the paint and start on something completely different while I think of where to go from here. Thanks for your patience!

**Edit:** Fixed two type-o's. Hehee... Wildwing said 'ass' instead of 'as.' Naughty leader! You're gonna teach Nosedive bad manners if you keep talking like that.

* * *

Red bolts of energy shot from the prow of the Raptor exploding the ground around the ducks feet. Everyone scattered, rolling out of the way before they could be hit.

"Looks like he got his ship powered up awful quick!" Duke yelled as he rolled out of the way of another deadly blast.

"You know the drill, team!" Wildwing started running to the Aerowing, his ice shield held overhead for cover.

"Sure," Nosedive intoned. He began to number the steps off on his fingers as he sat down at his seat on the plane. "We break into the Raptor, fight our way past the hunter drones, disconnect the power device, and escape with it."

"Don't you mean blow it up?" Grin asked.

"Sure!" Nosedive grinned. "Besides, I don't think we've ever managed to actually steal the power source. I mean, Tanya _always_ blows it up!"

0000

The Aerowing hovered above the still charred, if somewhat rusted, Raptor. Nosedive held the fighter jet in position while the rest of the team repelled through the blast hole in the ships exterior.

Landing safely inside, Wildwing looked around with the mask for any signs of the saurians. Sand and seaweed littered the floor of the holding area they had broken into. Crates lay scattered randomly about. This was where they had last fought Dragonus' goons before Tanya and Grin destroyed the Atlantian belerium crystals not a week ago. Clearly, the saurians hadn't cleaned up this part of the ship and the sea had taken its toll on the interior.

"Tanya, take Duke and get the power cells. Mallory, Grin, you're with me. We're going to find Draganaus and pay him a little visit."

The ducks split into their respective teams and parted ways.

0000

"Hey, Boss!" Chameleon pointed to a flashing red spot on the sensors. "We've got company!"

"Excellent." The massive dragon strutted about. He whipped around to face Siege and Wraith, forcing Chameleon to jump the heavy tail that almost knocked his legs out from under him. "Go greet our guests. And, Wraith, I trust you will make it our last meeting." He chuckled deeply, smoke rising from his nostrils.

0000

Grin, Wildwing, and Mallory ran through the metallic hallways of the saurian war ship. There was a distinct lack of drones.

"Draganaus has to know we're here!" Mallory was uneasy. "We should have run into something by now."

Just then, four hunter drones came at them, two from either end of the hall.

"Am I psychic or what?" She reached behind her back and grabbed her puck bazooka to begin defending her team.

"Grin, check 'em," Wildwing ordered while dropping into a crouch and shooting at the two advancing on him.

The large duck bowed and grabbed the two drones that were advancing from behind, bashing them into each other.

Both Wildwings and Mallory's pucks instantly destroyed their targets, leaving nothing but a smoking pile of metal.

The three ducks ran towards the ships command center at a breakneck pace.

0000

Duke made easy work of the three drones guarding the engine room. He shot his wrist-mounted grappling puck at the ceiling and practically flew over the drones, slicing them in two with his saber. One drone remained standing as he dropped back to the floor. Walking up to it, he pushed the top half off, leaving the bottom standing and sparking for a moment before it too fell over.

"Well, that was easy," he muttered as he began working on the keypad lock.

"Come on," Tanya encouraged. "Those power cells have to be on the other side of that door."

A loud hiss echoed in the empty chamber as the doors opened.

"I tell ya, this routine is beginning to become old hat." Duke stood and followed Tanya into the room.

"Come on, let's get those cells and find the others."

Tanya moved to the control panel and started rerouting power to auxiliary so they could disconnect the glowing green cells.

"There. Now we can get these cells back to TechnoDream Industries and get out of here!" She easily removed the wires connecting the soda can sized cells to the platform that had formerly housed the golden belerium crystals. She started to put all of them in her pockets, but Duke grabbed two.

"Never put all the loot in the same place," he cautioned.

"Don't you mean- Ah, never mind. Let's find Wildwing and get back to the Pond."

Duke laughed quietly. "You sure you don't want to blow somethin' up first?" He held up an explosive puck with a delayed timer. "I say we leave a little calling card."

Tanya grinned and quickly attached the explosive to the computer, setting the timer for fifteen minutes.

0000

Wildwing, Mallory, and Grin entered the hallway to the deck of the saurian warship. This last door was the only obstacle between them and their quarry, besides the dozen or so drones that were probably on the other side. Wildwing took the time to scan the area with the Mask, ready to give them a heads up on what they would find inside.

A pillar of smoke rose behind the ducks, pulling Grins attention away from his leader. Wraiths lanky form materialized within the miasma. Instead of his normal staff, he held a net gun.

"Your bad karma is about to get worse," the massive duck growled, alerting his friends to the attack from behind.

"Oh, I don't think so." Wraith took aim and fired, sending a large net out to envelop all three ducks. His aim was true and the ducks fell under the weight of the gray, metallic web.

Grin grabbed the mesh, intent on pulling it apart and freeing himself and his comrades. The silvery fiber sparked with electricity as he gripped it. Ignoring the pain, he continued to tear away.

"Aagh! Grin, stop!" Wildwing ordered as the electricity danced over his body.

Mallory grit her teeth, refusing to let a cry of pain escape her throat. Wraith would never know what agony he caused if she could help it.

The more pressure he put on the strands, the stronger the energy surges became until he could bear it no more. A sudden surge of power stole consciousness from the ducks.

0000

"Hey, this way." Duke grabbed Tanya's wrist and pulled her down a different hallway.

"But, Draganaus is that way!" Tanya tried to pull away and keep going on their original path.

"Shortcut," Duke threw one of his adventurous grins her way.

Tanya rolled her eyes, but followed anyway. He was always so sure of himself, the stuck up peacock. One of these days, that confidence was going to get him in trouble.

They rounded a corner to find Wraith and Siege dragging a net that was wrapped around their team.

"Hey, on your guard, chump!" Duke gripped his extended saber, anger flaring.

Tanya lifted her wrist, a blue glow forming around the tip of her Omni-tool's laser.

"I'd leave them alone, if I were you," she taunted.

"Or what?" Siege lifted his blaster and fired at the two ducks.

"Oh, I knew this was too easy," Wraith formed a fireball in his hand and threw it, joining in the battle.

Duke leaped forward, using his sword to send the fireball towards Siege. It missed, fizzling out on the wall behind him.

"You're gonna get it now, duckies!" The burly, orange saurian continued to laugh and fire his tachyon blaster wildly, counting on the rapid fire to hit a target more than accuracy.

A loud explosion rocked the ship, throwing everyone off balance.

A circular hologram of Draganaus' face popped up from Siege's bracer. Green static rippled through the image of the irate dragons face.

"Check the engines! The Raptor's lost all power!"

"We'll finish this later, ducks!" Siege promised as he and Wraith vanished from view in a glittering green sheen.

The floor lurched crazily as the ship continued to plummet towards the ground. Duke slid to the net holding his friends and slashed it open with his saber. Tanya clung to the walls, trying her best to maintain balance.

Wildwing groaned as he was freed from the electrically charged bonds. Grin shook his head and stood.

"Where are they?" Mallory demanded. "I'm going to make a new belt out of their hides!"

"Don't have time for that, sweetheart," Duke warned, offering a hand to help her up. "We're goin' down!"

"Back to the Aerowing!" Wildwing ordered as he regained his footing and led the way, his team following.

0000

The five ducks re-entered the storage bay where they had entered. Crates and barrels flew about wildly as the ship rocked. They scrambled for the ropes dangling from the hole in the roof. Nosedive was doing an excellent job keeping the Aerowing steady above the failing war ship.

Urgency forced the ducks to grab whichever rope was closest and they began climbing towards the safety of their own jet. Wildwing climbed a little slower than the others; he wanted to be sure everyone got out. Duke was just above him. Mallory, Tanya, and Grin were closest to the top. Mallory climbed into the Aerowing and turned to offer a hand to Tanya.

Duke and Wildwing hadn't yet cleared the Raptor when the red craft suddenly lurched to the side, knocking them from their ropes and back inside. Grin, still dangling from his rope looked down, horrified that he couldn't grab them in time. His beak set in determination, the giant finished his climb.

"All here?" Nosedive asked from the pilots seat, turning around to look as he leveled out.

"No," Grin rumbled. "Wildwing and Duke didn't get out."

Mallory sat in the copilots seat and strapped in.

"We're going after them," she said grimly.

Nosedive nodded and pushed the throttle forward, chasing the falling Raptor.

Suddenly, the ship leveled out and vanished in a flash, leaving no trace of where it had either landed or crashed.

"Ah, man! I hate it when those creep-o-sauri do that." Nosedive circled the area, hoping to see some trace of the ship and his missing brother.

"We'll have to go back to the Pond," Tanya suggested. "I can use Drake One to track their comms."

The white form of the Aerowing streaked across the night sky, heading back to its hanger.


	3. Attack on City Hall!

**AN:** 06/22/2013 More story! I haven't forgotten this one; I've just been stuck at a horrible point where I can't figure out how to move forward. Now that I have this much written, I figured I'd give you a little bit more of the story.

-Glares at Duke- Naughty duck. He's gone off and started another storyline in my head. So, thanks to this little bit, I've got yet _another_ story started. It's part of a sequel to this one. Maybe I should just write that one in silence and post the whole thing when it's done... Or maybe I should just finish this one! Anywho, enjoy :)

Reviews are welcome and encourage more stories to be posted faster!

* * *

Tanyas fingers fairly flew over the keys of Drake One. There was some sort of interference with the com signals. Duke's signal would be on one side of town, vanish, and reappear in another state, then show up at the Pond and vanish again. Wildwing's signal kept popping up in multiple places at the same time. Without the Mask, there was little hope of finding the Raptor.

"Any luck?" Nosedive asked as leaned behind her chair, one arm resting on the back, the other resting on the computer next to Tanya. His pose closely echoed that of his brother whenever Wildwing needed more information from the genius.

Tanya signed and rubbed her eyes under her glasses.

"Not much, no. I can't figure out what Dragaunus is up to. It looks like they're teleporting all over the place, but there aren't any signs of teleportation energy!"

The young duck stood, crossing his arms.

"I don't like this. Ol' Lizard Lips is up to something and he's got Duke and Wildwing. You've gotta find them!"

She gave him a sideways glance and considered saying something about how much he was acting like Wildwing. Deciding that would only drive home the fact that he was missing, she kept her silence.

0000

Chameleon walked around the massive destroyer robot he had stolen from TechnoDream Industries. The sleek design resembled a metallic frog with rockets strapped to its hips. The bipedal machine easily stood twenty feet tall. Robotic arms equipped with lasers extended from the front. A glass dome covered the pilots seat, giving up to three passengers a clear view of their surroundings. Unfortunately for the saurians, Chameleon was the only one who could easily fit. Wraith could almost fit inside, but the tall wizard hated enclosed spaces and muttered about technology being the downfall of all their plans.

Shape shifting into a green-clad military general, Chameleon climbed up the leg and settled himself into the drivers seat.

"Ten-Hut!" he called in a deep voice to the drones standing next to him. "Men, we have a mission. Some of you might not make it. Some of you might be horribly maimed. But! You are going to go out there! You are going to cause chaos! You are going to destroy ducks!"

With a wave of its electronic arm, the new robot turned around and led a small army of drones out of the cloaked Raptor and down the street of Anaheim.

0000

Two massive cages hung from the ceiling of Dragaunus' throne room; each one containing a Mighty Duck. The round, barred prisons had enough space to stand, but not enough to take two steps in any direction. No door was visible from the sides. The only way in or out was through the floor, which opened in two pieces. The lock was electronically controlled from a panel near the throne. This design meant there was no lock to pick, a fact which Duke found extremely irritating.

In fact, Duke was more aggravated than he'd been in a long time. Maybe Falcone had been right; going straight had made him soft. Not once had been he been caught on Puckworld. Now? Here he was, a prisoner of Dragaunus for the second time in a week. There weren't enough fingers on his hands to count how many times he'd been caught in the past year. He growled menacingly under his breath as he glared daggers at his captor. In a fit of frustration, the irate thief gripped the bars of the cage and started jerking at them, making his prison sway back and forth.

"Aaah," he snarled in disgust and sat down cross legged, arms folded across his chest.

"Duke?" Wildwing wrapped his hands around two of the bars of his cage, concern plain on his unmasked face. It was completely unlike the normally confident and collected center to act out when the enemy could see them.

Duke shot an almost hateful frown at Wildwing before looking away, studying Dragaunus' movements.

The last Saurian Overloard paced back and forth below the ducks, waiting for something. Normally, he would be gloating and boasting about capturing them; but, something had him on edge. Finally, he stopped and went to the viewing screen.

"You may have grounded the Raptor once more," he spat, "But you haven't stopped my ultimate plan."

"We'll stop you," Wildwing promised, his voice deep with conviction. "If it takes the rest of our lives, we'll bring an end to your evil."

A guttural, sinister laugh emitted from the red lizards throat.

"I assure you, the rest of your lives will be short. Thanks to that one eyed fowl, I already have two of the Regenerative Power Cells back. It won't take long to get the other three from the rest of your pathetic team when they respond to an attack on City Hall."

Pressing a couple of buttons, he pulled up a live feed of Anaheims city hall. What looked like a World War II general sat in the cockpit of a massive robot with several squadrons of hunter drones in formation behind it.

Duke and Wildwing were forced to watch as General Chameleon fired two rockets into the empty building.

0000

Drake One's loud alarm startled Tanya. She quickly switched screens to pull up the information on what had set off her high tech surveillance system.

Grin and Mallory ran into the ready room, eager to jump into action.

"What now?" Mallory demanded.

"There's been an explosion at City Hall! Looks like those lizards didn't wait long to start causing more problems."

"Let's catch those sleeze balls." Nosedive ran in the direction of the Migrator. "Maybe they'll lead us to the Raptor."

0000

The Migrator slid to a screeching stop as the ducks turned the corner. It quickly shifted into battle mode as drones began firing at the massive troop carrier.

Blue lasers shot from the cannons mounted on top of the vehicle, aimed directly at the hunter drones. Two drones exploded; more stepped forward to take their place.

Chameleon turned his frog-like robot around and aimed a missile straight at the enemy vehicle.

"Time to roast some duck!" General Chameleon laughed maniacally.

The red tipped missile flew true and followed the Migrator as it backed up in an attempt to evade the weapon. As it backed, the armored vehicle turned to the left, trying to get out of the missiles path. Unfortunately, the tracking sensor on the smart weapon followed the movement and struck the Migrator in the side, knocking it over and causing a massive explosion.

"Everybody okay?" Tanya asked as she unbuckled.

"Fine," Mallory growled, following Tanya's lead.

Nosedive jumped out from the side of the downed vehicle, puck blasters blazing. Not only had these lizards started attacking the city again, they had his brother. He was _not_ going to let them get away.

Grin ran into the fray, punching drones and sending them flying into the sides of buildings and cars, destroying the evil machinery. His strength combined with Mallory's puck cannon and Tanya's omni-tool soon eliminated all of the red robots.

"All right, Chameleon, you geek-o-saur. Put 'em up!" Nosedive aimed an explosive puck straight at the cockpit of the vehicle and fired. The black disk exploded upon impact, yet the protective glass barrier remained unscathed.

"You were saying?" Chameleon taunted as he turned and fired the side mounted lasers.

"I was saying-" Nosedive was interrupted by fiery death aimed at his feet. "Duck!" He jumped out of the way as did the rest of the team.

The four ducks ran around the corner of a building, trying to evade the cannon fire.

"That's right, you feather-brains, run!" Chameleon followed, laughing manically, never letting up on his attack. The robot practically danced, conveying the glee of its pilot.

The ducks gathered up, looking around the corner at their foe and trying to find an opening. A well aimed bolt of energy shot from the cannon and landed on the brick wall just above their heads, breaking part of the structure loose. Once again, the four avians scattered to avoid certain injury, if not death.

"Don't look now; but, I think we're seriously outgunned," Nosedive quipped.

"Tell me about it!" Mallory re-loaded her bazooka. "Custer didn't have it this bad!"

A large, metallic arm reached towards the ducks and snatched Tanya from the ground. The blond duck struggled against the robotic fingers around her waist, trying to push herself free. Glancing down, she noticed a hydraulic cable attached to the wrist of the machine, giving it the power it needed to hold her. She quickly wrapped her foot around the cord and pulled, ripping it from its anchor and loosening the strong grip. Tanya fell to the ground and landed in a three-point crouch before running back to her team.

Loud police sirens broke through the chaos of battle as Captain Klegghorn and three other squad cars pulled up.

"What are you stinking saurians up to now?" the short tempered human demanded as he pointed his gun at the robotic monstrosity.

"Hey," Chameleon whined, "That's not very nice. I'll teach you some manners!" A rocket was aimed at the captain, who dodged to the side as yet another of his squad cars was incinerated.

The small human flew through the air, propelled by the power of the explosion. Grin easily caught him, avoiding any possible injury to their ally. The large duck gave his friend a sheepish smile as he set him down.

"Thanks for the assist," Klegghorn grumbled. "Now will someone please tell me what's going on here! Where's Wildwing?"

"Ol' Lizard Lips has him," Nosedive growled.

"And the Chameleon's attacking City Hall," Mallory added.

"Nobody takes down a public establishment on my watch!"

A bolt of red energy shot from Chameleons cannon and hit its mark in the center of Grins chest, throwing the massive mallard back and to the ground. Groaning, Grin sat up and rubbed his head.

"The Hell with this," he rumbled. "You've disturbed my inner peace enough for one night!" He charged at the robot, dodging further attacks, ready to rip it apart piece by piece.

"Now's our chance!" Mallory shouted, puck bazooka at the ready. She fired a puck bola at it. The black disc broke apart into two pieces connected by a rope as it flew towards the robots legs. Mallory's reputation for perfect aim was well earned. The rope wrapped around the robots legs, immobilizing it.

"Nice work, Mallory," Nosedive complimented. "Here's my contribution!" He picked up a broken pipe from the debris scattered on the ground around them. One end was pointed, creating the perfect spear. The youngest Mighty Duck threw it with all his might and it landed in the belly of the robot, causing the control board inside to shoot sparks at the reptilian pilot.

Grin leaped into the air and delivered a flying kick above the robots ankle, forcing it off balance. It teetered a little bit and Tanya fired at it with her omni-tool, providing the last bit of force needed to knock the bipedal machine over.

"Time to get out of here!" Chameleon screeched as he teleported from the cockpit in a green haze.

The now empty automaton fell over, landing on its nose before tipping over and coming to a rest on its side.

"Oooh!" Nosedive growled in frustration. "We defeated that slimeball, but we still don't know where the Raptor is!"

"This one of those missing destroyer robots from TechnoDream Industries?" Klegghorn asked as he studied the mechanical wreckage in front of him.

"Yeah," Tanya confirmed. "But didn't Dr. Marillier say two were stolen?"

"Then, where's the other one?" Mallory demanded.

0000

"You incompetent fool!" Draganaus roared at Chameleon as he fired his wrist-mounted laser at the swiftly dodging changeling. "You had them! You could have taken out all of the ducks!"

"Eep!" The shapeshifter ducked another blast and dodged as a piece of the wall fell where he had been standing a moment before. "It would have been easier if I'd had some backup! I was all by myself out there!"

"You'll wish you were still by yourself by the time I'm done with you!" Draganaus moved to catch the speedy saurian and strangle him. Chameleon was too fast for him and ran from the room, only to be pursued by his irate overloard.

0000

"Duke, can you pick the lock?" Wildwing hissed quietly.

"No, Wildwing, I can't." The thief remained ticked off and kept glaring at the control panel, muttering dark things under his breath. Still sitting, Duke pulled a small pouch of lock picks from the inside pocket of his uniform. He threw them at Wildwing, who reached through the bars of his cage and caught it. "You try picking the bloody lock for a change."

"I don't know what to do with these," Wildwing stared at Duke in surprise. "If we can't pick the locks, then how do we get out of here?"

"See that panel down there? That buttons the only way to open these blasted cages. I don't know about you, fearless leader, but my arms aren't long enough to reach that far."

"Hm." Wildwing turned around, taking in his surroundings, hoping to find some way to open the hanging prison. He patted the gray pouch hanging on his belt, checking for ammo-pucks. It felt strangely lumpy and soft. Frowning, he opened the flap to find-

"Hey, what you got over there?"

"I'm going to kill him." Wildwing held up an orange, a scowl on his face. "Throwing fruit at me is one thing; but, he should know better than to mess with my gear!"

Just then, Draganaus returned from chasing his minion and looked at his two captured prizes. He grinned, showing off his sharply pointed teeth.

"It looks like you two will have a front row seat to my conquest of Earth," he jeered. "I do hope you will settle down and enjoy the show."

"It don't look to me like you're doin' much conquering, scale face."

"Yeah," Wildwing added, laughing a little as he casually leaned on the cages bars. "Looks to me like you're just sitting around, doing nothing." He started peeling the orange, dropping bits of the peel on the floor.

"Where did you get that?" The duck calmly opening fruit and littering the ships floor perplexed Draganaus. These fool fowl should be cowering in fear, not eating a late night snack!

"This?" Wildwing ate a slice. "Wraith thought we might like something to eat while we waited on you." He peeled a fibrous white string off a slice and dropped it to the floor, adding to the mess.

"Wraith!" Draganaus roared, stalking out of the room to punish his henchman once more.

Duke sniggered at the trouble that reptile was going to find himself in. Suddenly, his bad mood vanished.

"Hey, Wing, I got an idea. Toss me one of those, would ya?"

Wildwing gave Duke a confused look, but threw an orange at him anyway. Duke caught it then turned around in his cage. He slid his arm through the bars, carefully aimed, and threw the orange at the control panel, hitting a button.

The bottoms of the cages opened, dropping the ducks to the floor. They landed easily on their feet, crouching a little to absorb the impact.

"I do believe that's the first time I've ever picked a lock with a piece of fruit," Duke chuckled.

They quickly grabbed their weapons and the mask from the console next to Draganaus chair and ran from the throne room.

* * *

**End Authors Note:** Ever notice how often that poor thief gets captured in episodes? I counted; Duke got captured in one form or another in 10 out of 26 episodes. If he was seriously caught 30% of the time, he'd have made a pretty poor jewel-thief on Puckworld! So, now he's pretty steamed about it. What will that naughty bird get up to to soothe his ego?

Also, I fully admit to David Wise-ing a good chunk of this. If you don't know what I mean, go do a little research on the original Mighty Ducks writer and you'll figure it out. ;)


	4. Home again, home again

**AN:** 06/27/2013 More story! This is what I cranked out yesterday and today. I thought about waiting to actually finish the story to post it, but got excited about knowing where the story is heading and decided to post it now;) Now, off to work! And maybe more will be written this week.

* * *

"You incompetent fools!" Dragaunus ranted. "I give you one simple task and you bungle it yet again."

"Heyyyyyyy..." Chameleon whined, doing his best Curly impression. "I resemble that remark, nyh, nyh, nyh."

"If you would use the dark powers of our saurian ancestors-"

"Screw magic! I want to pulverize those fowl!" Siege interrupted.

"Enough!" The overloards roar was deafening. "They destroyed one robot, but we still have the TimberJack. Siege, you and Wraith will go to the Plore Orchard and start cutting down all the trees."

"Uh..." Siege was confused. How was cutting down trees going to destroy ducks or cause chaos? "Why?"

"Because I said so, you blithering idiot! And because that orchard is nothing more than a guise for a secret government weapons facility. While you and Wraith are distracting the ducks, Chameleon will slip in and steal their new TCL canon."

"Ooh!" Finally, the plot clicked in the slow saurians skull. "This is gonna be fun!"

0000

It had taken a lot of effort, but the Migrator was finally freed from the rubble that had fallen on it. Mallory drove with Nosedive sitting next to her. Despite besting Chameleon in the robot, they still had no idea what had happened to Wildwing or Duke. They had all decided to drive around in hopes of the sensors on the Migrator picking up some trace of the Raptor.

Nosedive had his elbow resting on the dash, chin in hand as he gloomily watched the city buildings speed by.

"We will find them," Grin encouraged.

"Hey!" Tanya exclaimed excitedly as one of the instruments on the Migrator control panel started blinking. "Drake One's picked up their homing beacons!"

"All righty!" Nosedive cheered as Mallory took a corner sharply and began following Tanya's directions to their missing teammates coordinates.

0000

Dragaunus strutted into his throne room once more. Maybe this time he would have a little fun with the ducks. Yes... Target practice would be quite entertaining. Never mind the fact that they were in cages and couldn't run. He preferred it that way.

"So, ducks," he spat as he looked up at the cages. "What?!"

Those wretched waterfowl had escaped! How? It didn't matter; now that they were loose, they'd run back to their team and give away the location of the Raptor. Smoke billowed from his nostrils as his fury grew.

Storming over to the control panel, he pressed some buttons and began using what little power the ship had re-gained from the Regenerative Energy Cells. The ship de-cloaked and began ascending into the sky to find a new hiding spot.

0000

"Ooh, no!" Duke spread his arms out for balance as the floor under him shifted. "They're taking off!"

Wildwing quickly scanned the wall with the mask and was relieved to find that it was an outer one. He leveled his gauntlet at it and fired, creating a quick exit.

Duke and Wildwing stepped to the hole and looked down to find the ground quickly receding. The surrounding buildings were already a fair distance below them and growing smaller by the second. Without a second thought, Duke put his hand on Wildwings back, prepared to shove him out. Wildwing gave him a glare that clearly conveyed his thoughts- _don't you dare._ Duke smiled and pushed, jumping from the soaring ship at the same time. He kept close to Wildwing, wrapping his left arm around his leaders shoulder. The leaders eyes opened wide as they fell, but he refused to vocally express his terror.

A flag pole sticking out from the side of a skyscraper flew past the swiftly falling ducks. Duke fired his grappling puck at it and the cord wound around the metal pole several times before pulling taught, halting the ducks descent.

"Oof," Duke groaned. "You ever consider loosing weight?" He began slowly releasing more rope, slowly lowering them towards the ground.

"Now I know how Tanya felt when Nosedive did that to her," Wildwing laughed.

A sudden downward drop startled the two drakes. Duke looked up to see the flagpole bending under their combined weight.

"Uh-oh..." Wildwing knew what that sharp curve meant.

The flag pole ripped out of the wall, speeding the final twenty foot drop. They hit the pavement hard, landing on their sides. A moment later, the flag pole bounced just behind them.

"I've had more graceful landings," Duke groaned as he sat up, rubbing his right shoulder.

"Ow," Wildwing agreed, holding on his head.

Just then, the Migrator pulled up and the front window rolled down to show the rest of the teams smiling faces.

"Need a lift?" Mallory asked.

"Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes." Duke smiled, still grasping his shoulder as his right arm hung limply at his side.

The side door opened, admitting the two wayward drakes.

0000

"GAAH!" Duke squirmed in pain. "Leave it alone!" He tried to pull away, but the team tech held his arm in her firm grasp.

The team was in the infirmary as Tanya examined Dukes shoulder. The gray duck sat on the edge of a Med-I-Com as Tanya poked at his shoulder, judging how badly it was dislocated.

"It wouldn't hurt so much if you'd just sit still," she ordered.

"Pain is but an illusion," Grin reminded.

"Yeah, right. Come here and I'll show you an illusion!" Duke threatened.

"It's not that bad," Tanya tried to soothe. "Just sit up straight and let me put it back into place."

"Cool!" Nosedive tried to get a better look. "Are you gonna pop it back in?"

"No," Tanya snorted. "There are other ways of doing it that don't hurt so much." She gently took Duke's hand and pressed it against the inside of her left forearm. "I need you to hold on here," she instructed as she pressed her thumb into the crook of his elbow and slowly pulled down. "Come on, sit up straight," she poked him in the back, "And try to relax."

"Yeah, you relax," he muttered, but followed instructions anyway.

"Just take a few deep breaths." She started massaging his trapezius, moved down to massaging the deltoid, and then do the bicep. "Come on, sit up," she reminded and he straightened his back once more. "Feel it relaxing?"

"Yeah," he nodded, surprised at the growing relief. He watched as she moved back to slowly squeezing his shoulder and the dislocated joint fit back into place on its own.

"There. Is it back in?" She slowly rotated his arm away from him and back, judging how freely it moved.

"That's amazin," Duke complimented as Tanya gently moved his arm in front of his chest and put his other hand on it to hold it in place.

"Good. Now, just stay there while I get you a sling."

Wildwing studied Tanya for a minute. She had always stepped up to aid any injured team member with a calm demeanor that showed years of medical experience. But, she was a technician, skilled with machines and supposedly untrained as a doctor.

"So, just where did you learn all of this?" the leader queried.

"Oh, well, uh..." She stuttered a little bit, embarrassed. "My, uh, parents sort of pressured me to be a doctor my whole life. I was actually in my residency at DuCaine Hospital when the invasion happened. I only had another six months left before actually becoming a surgeon myself."

"Wait a minute," Nosedive piped up. "You're actually a _doctor_? I thought you were all about the machine-a-reenos."

"Well, not quite," She spoke as she placed the sling around Duke's neck and gently placed his arm in it. "Like I said, I never, uh, finished my residency. And I do prefer machines! My passion has always been for inventing things, not fixing ducks. But, well, I was never very good at standing up to my father." She looked away and adjusted her glasses, trying to hide her discomfiture. "He was the top neurosurgeon in Puckington.

"After the invasion, I managed to find the resistance and join up as a medic. When the head doctor complained about how difficult it was to diagnose injuries without the proper medical equipment, I started building the Med-i-coms."

"_You_ invented those?" Mallory asked, clearly impressed.

"Well, yeah! Not by myself; I had a lot of help from a mechanic who let me raid the wreckage of some vehicles. How do you think I was able to build the ones we have now? It's not like I brought plans for them from Puckworld or anything."

"Because you're a genius?" Duke offered.

"Oh! Um, yeah, that too," Tanya continued. "After I gave the resistance the instructions on how to make them, the head doctor transferred me to what was left of the militaries science division. That's where I started to really get creative and was finally able to use my mind to help people. I'm not a very good doctor, truth be told."

"Aww, Tawny, you're not that bad!" Nosedive complimented. "After all, you're the one who took care of me when I had that concussion!"

"Maybe that's what happened to your brain," Mallory teased.

"Nah, he was like this before Dragaunus' goons dropped him off that mountainside," Duke added.

"Thank you for telling us about this," Wildwing said as he glanced towards the door. He thought he had seen something moving around over there... "It's good to know that we have an actual medic on the team and won't have to rely on humans if something major happens to one of us." He raised his left hand and caught the orange Nosedive had hurled at him. Sighing to himself, he put it in the pouch at his side. He was amassing quite the citrus collection.

"Duke, get some rest," Wildwing ordered as he turned to leave. "Grin, you take watch for any sign of Dragaunus' next move."

* * *

**End authors note:** The technique Tanya uses to re-locate Duke's shoulder is called the Cunningham Technique. Seems a far more civilized, fluid way to pop a shoulder back into place than jerking it in;) As for the whole Tanya's really a doctor thing, I'm just getting creative here.

Also, I made a new forum for Mighty Ducks fanfic discussions ( fanfiction dot net /forum/Mighty-Ducks-The-Animated-Series/135358/). It includes a thread that has youtube references I use for my stories, so you can actually see where my inspiration/insanity comes from =)

More to come when I get it written!


	5. After the Battle

**AN:** 07/13/2013 More story! I had a little roadblock for a bit, then some inspiration came to me like a saving rain in the desserts of Zimbabwe. Not much action incoming, but rather fun with characters. I suggest you check out chapter three of my Welcome to Earth story if you'd like more details of where one scene takes place and who two of the mentioned characters are. Not required, but might be less confusing. The last scene references a bit on Traitor Among Us at 3:53 where Wildwing is sitting on something in the background.

I'd also like to note, I can see my writing style changing and improving already. I'm quite happy with how this bit turned out! Now, to keep practicing and maybe I'll get to where I feel like I can actually write something original.

Revolutionary Venom, yay for updating! I'll go read more of your Tip of the Blade in a few minutes. Nice to see it updated after so long.

Sorry, Silver Sentinel, but you're going to have to wait to find out what happens to those precious trees because I am evil. Evil like a banana under an overlords foot.

Thanks for the reviews and favorites/follows, each and every one of you. They inspire me to keep writing and to get stuff out faster!

* * *

Wildwing groaned as he rolled over towards his silent alarm clock. The glaring red letters proclaimed the ungodly hour of seven a.m. Considering he'd gone to bed around four, this was way too early to get up. A sigh escaped his beak as the white duck shifted onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was usually up around five; it was surprising he'd been able to get any sleep at all. Unfortunately, he'd been through this before. As much as he wanted to, there was no way his body would let him sleep in any longer. If things stayed quiet, he might be able to sneak in a nap before practice this afternoon. Hopefully.

Rubbing his face, he swung his legs off the bed and sat up. A quick glance at his brothers bed proved no surprise; Nosedive was out like a log. That kid could sleep anywhere and at any time. Wildwing envied his brothers skill at resting whenever and wherever.

Sore muscles and new bruises made their presence known as the exhausted leader stood. It'd take a good hour of stretching just to work out those knots. Maybe some time in the hot tub would help. Yeah, soaking in hot water sounded good. Really, really good.

0000

"You too?" Duke stood at the edge of the aquatic therapy centers hot tub. He was in his wine colored swim trunks; his injured limb still rested in its sling.

Wildwing, who was up to his neck in the hot water, opened his eyes and looked up at his teammate, then nodded.

"Yeah. Couldn't sleep in any later. How's the wing?"

"Been better." Duke slipped the strap of the sling over his head and lay the black cloth on the towel rack before getting in the pool himself and sitting next to Wildwing. He glanced up at the TV to see the news on. The volume was on low, barely audible over the hot tubs jets. A black remote rested on a towel within Wildwings reach, but far enough away from the edge of the pool to be safe from splashes. "Why you watchin this junk? Thought you'd be watching replays of yesterdays game."

"I was hoping there would be something about the equipment stolen from TechnoDream last night. Too bad it's all about OJ Simpson and that NASA probe heading towards Mars next month."

Duke chuckled at the mention of the space probe. Despite their presence on the planet, the humans still wanted to search for little green men in their own solar system. It was perhaps a little egotistical that they expected aliens on Mars to be humanoid as well. And why would a species that lived on a red planet be green anyway?

The sound of a door opening startled both ducks. Dr. Lowes entered the blue and white tiled aquatic center. She was in her ever present white lab coat. Her dark blue pencil skirt and white blouse presented a professional appearance, which was only slightly diminished by the fact that she was barefoot. Neon pink nail polish decorated her toes. She smiled at the two avians in the hot tub, but the smile faded as she spotted the black sling resting on the pile of fluffy white towels.

"All right, which one of you needs the sling?" The small, blond woman crossed her arms and looked each duck in the eye.

Duke and Wildwing each pointed at the other one. Neither said a word.

"Nice try." She continued to stare them down. Working with these ducks could be both the easiest job in the world and the most frustrating. They were a dream to work with when they decided to let her help them; most of them followed directions to the letter and they always recovered much more quickly than any of her human patients in the past. However, they had a nasty habit of hiding injuries and she often found herself playing detective to determine if her skills were needed or not. "Duke, I'll take a look at you when you're done in here."

"Wha? It's not me!" He nodded his head towards Wildwing. "It's him. Thief's honor."

Wildwings jaw dropped in incredulity. Duke never admitted to being a former thief around humans! Besides that, he was trying to push the doctors attentions off to him.

"I know it's you Duke. You pointed with your left hand and you're right handed."

"Sorry, Dr. Lowes," Wildwing spoke up. "We had a run in with Dragaunus last night and got a little banged up. Tanya fixed his dislocated shoulder, so he should be fine."

"Hey," Duke glared at him. "You fell outta that spaceship too, remember?"

"No, I was pushed. Get it right."

"I don't care what video game you two were playing last night; I just need to make sure you're cleared for tomorrows game. I'm the one who says you're physically fit to play, not Tanya. Remember?" Dr. Lowes was trying to hide her smile at the two bickering hockey players in front of her. "Maybe I should check you out too, Wildwing."

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, many of the humans in the pond refused to believe the ducks fought an evil saurian overlord bent on world domination. Most figured their various injuries came from practice, games, or overly enthusiastic video game playing. Where the video game idea came from, nobody knew. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the time Nosedive fell into the coffee table and broke it while playing _Turok: Dinosaur Hunter_ in the player lounge.

"It wasn't a video game," Duke muttered. "Nosedive's the only one who plays those."

Wildwing tried to look innocent when Duke mentioned Nosedive being the only one who played video games. He'd been known to join in on a few multi-player games on occasion.

"Hey," Duke suddenly remembered something. "What are you doin here this early? Practice's been delayed."

"Not according to my calendar, it hasn't."

"Oops." Wildwing sunk a little lower into the water and tried to hide. He closed his eyes and hoped he'd blend in with the bottom of the pool as he slid beneath the surface.

Duke rolled his eye and grabbed his leaders shoulder to haul him back up.

Dr. Lowes still had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot a little impatiently. Her stern glare told the goalie that he wasn't going to escape her displeasure that easily.

"Wildwing," the petite doctor began, "Tanya put that team calendar online for a reason. I'd appreciate it if you'd update it when you delay practice so I don't have to get here so early. It'd be nice to sleep in once in a while." Annoyance tinged with admonishment dripped from her voice like wet paint.

"Sorry." He tried his best to appear remorseful. "We didn't get back until three a.m. last night. I just forgot-"

"I don't want to hear it," she put her hand up to stop him. "Next time, update the calendar. I'm not the only one here now because you didn't." She turned to leave, but seemed to remember her original reason for coming into the room. "I need to check the PH levels of the tubs."

"I already did," Wildwing informed her.

"Oh, well. Good. At least you remembered something." Dr. Lowes headed towards the doorway into her medical center. "Don't forget, Duke. I want you in my office when you're done in here."

"Sure thing, sweetheart," he resigned himself to his fate. It was bad enough that Tanya insisted on torturing his damaged shoulder; now he had to deal with a human doctor examining it!

As soon as she was gone, Wildwing sank below the waters surface again and stayed there. The heat felt great. His muscles were finally beginning to relax and the bruises from his introduction to the pavement weren't as tender. When his lungs demanded air, he again rose to the surface.

"Feisty little thing, isn't she?" Duke said as his team captains head rose from the pool. It never ceased to amuse him how the diminutive doctor could browbeat Wildwing.

"She's worse than Mallory."

"Nuh-uh! _Nobody's_ worse than Mallory."

"What's today?"

"Wednesday. Why?"

"Your turn for breakfast. Want me to go get doughnuts or something for you?"

"Wing, my arms only stiff, not broken. I can manage breakfast. Besides, Dr. Lowes said she wasn't the only one here this morning. Kari's probably got something cooked up."

"Think there's any of that fruit salad from Monday left over?"

"Hope so." Duke leaned his head back against the pools edge and closed his eyes. Like Wildwing, he could feel his body beginning to relax and the ache in his shoulder was slowly fading.

Neither duck noticed the news report about a conspiracy theorist's arrest. The screen showed an unshaven, filthy old man howling about secret government bases with super canons to repel alien invaders. As police pushed him into a cruiser, he continued to rave about giant lizard men.

0000

"Wildwing! Baby!" Phil swaggered into the room and took up residence behind the studious drake.

"No." Wildwing was tired and in no mood to deal with Phil's publicity stunts. After his soak in the hot tub, he'd had a quick breakfast courtesy of Kari's kitchen crew, stretched out the last of his soreness, and settled down in the rec room to go over the video of their last game with the Orcas. A black binder full of hockey plays and notes was opened on his lap; the TV remote rested on the right page. He had been carefully analyzing the opposing teams tactics and what plays worked best against them. His barely legible left-handed scrawl covered half a page. In an attempt to further discourage the money-hungry manager, he refused to even look up from his writing.

"It's not a publicity thing this time, I swear." Phils voice was pleading as he desperately tried to gain the team captains attention. Hope surged through his greedy little heart as that long beak swung over the leaders shoulder and an impassive gaze was leveled at him. "We need to set up interviews for everyone with ESPN so they can get a video of you to run before the Stanley Cup game. The public loves seeing player reactions to the season!"

"Is that all?" Somehow, he doubted it.

"Uhhhh... No," Phil tugged at his tie a little. "Do you think we could maybe let them record a tour of your headquarters? You know, give the public a real taste of what life is like for you guys!"

"No." No, no, no. It was quickly becoming the only word he ever said to his manager. "We're not letting a film crew in here to show the entire world what kinds of weapons and gear we have. Our headquarters is secret for a reason. What if Dragaunus saw that video?"

"How could it hurt? He's already been in here!"

"Absolutely not. We'll do the interviews in the player lounge like normal. Nobody is coming down here." Considering the matter closed, he returned his attention to the note taking.

Yes! Phil silently rejoiced as Wildwing agreed to the interviews. Now for the money making part of his plan.

"So, uh, how about that team garage sale at the end of the season?"

The leaders head dipped a little as another sigh worked its way out from the bottom of his lungs. His shoulders slumped ever so slightly before straightening out into the firm, resolved posture Wildwing usually presented to Phil. This time, he turned around fully and gave the human his full attention.

"What garage sale?" he demanded in an irritated tone.

"You know, the team garage sale! All the big NHL teams do it at the end of the year. They sell off their old jerseys, used sticks, all the gear they've used throughout the season. The kids love it! It's a great way for the poorer fans to get professional gear for their own games next year."

Curse it all to Limbo. Phil always knew how to manipulate him. How could he say no to selling their old gear to people who would use it? Everything would have to be replaced next season anyway; if they were even still on the planet, that is. Still, he wanted to keep a couple of his jerseys as mementos of his time on a Earth hockey team.

"And what happens to the money from the sale?" Ah-hah! There it was. The one thing that might possibly keep them from participating in another scheme.

"Oh, that's easy!" Phil pulled a small notebook from his inside suit pocket and flipped through it, carefully perusing his options. "Uh... The money would go to..." he began muttering. "Clean water for Hawaiians, eco-friendly pencils, tastier fruit tarts... Ah! Here it is! The Coalition for Better Post-It Notes!"

"No."

"We could donate a portion of the proceeds to a local boys club." Phil hated to have to give away some of the money, but getting to keep some of it was better than getting none at all!

"Fine. But I'm keeping some of my gear and the others get a say in what gets sold or not. And the majority of the money goes to the boys club, not a measly five percent."

"Okay, okay," Phil grumbled. "They'll get ten percent."

Wildwing frowned at Phil almost angrily.

"Fifteen?" Offering an extra five percent caused his hands to go clammy.

"Eighty." Wildwing had been paying close attention to how Duke dealt with Phil when it came to money.

The overweight managers jaw dropped at the huge number Wildwing said. Unfortunately, the stern glare in his eyes brokered no argument. Relenting, Phil turned to leave.

"Okay, eighty percent. But you had better do a great job on those interviews!"

0000

Nosedive strutted into the rec room, ready to enjoy some cartoons with his fruit salad and coco puffs. He carefully balanced the plate of fruit salad on top of his glass of orange juice in one hand and the bowl of cereal in the other. The required silverware was pinched between his index finger and the cup. His right wing was held close to his torso, allowing him to carry two oranges balanced on his forearm.

Wildwing was sleeping soundly on the couch, right arm slung across his eyes and left leg hanging off the padded cushions. The black playbook lay facedown on his stomach. A paused video of their last game with the Orcas occupied the TV screen while the remote lay on the floor near the dozing drake.

The younger Flashblade grinned at the vulnerable position his brother was in. Oh, what possibilities floated through his devious little mind! Draw on his face with a sharpie? Put his hand in warm water? Replace the playbook with one of Mallory's fashion magazines and take photos? Completely bury him in the oranges he'd bought from The Health Nut yesterday?

His cartoon idea scrapped, Nosedive walked back up the ramp and took up residence in the low chair on the platform just above the couch and TV. He set his various breakfast items on the floor around him and carefully studied his snoozing kin. The view from this vantage point was perfect; he'd be able to see when Wildwing woke up, but his brother wouldn't know someone else was in the room right away.

A smile slowly worked its way across his beak as Nosedive munched his coco puffs. He quietly ate while waiting for his brother to wake up, the oranges ready and waiting next to his thigh.


End file.
